Estate Planning

We handle the full range of estate planning concerns.

Most people think of Estate Planning as preparing a will, a power of attorney, or maybe an advanced health care directive. While these are all important parts of Estate Planning, they serve only as a basic foundation of Estate Planning. People have traditionally relied on these basic items to make sure that, in the event of a catastrophic event such as serious illness, injury, incapacitation or death, a trusted love one could manage that person’s affairs.

But what about the events that occur before one of those catastrophic events happens? For example, what happens to a person’s assets if that person become disabled or needs long term care? What about a person having financial trouble resulting in bankruptcy or are subjected to a lawsuit? A will, power of attorney or advanced health care directive will not help in one of those situations and even a seemingly well prepared person could quickly lose his or her entire life savings in a very short time.

Some people will say that they aren’t worried about one of those events and they have a will, power of attorney and advanced healthcare directives. They feel secure in their Estate Planning. The truth is they may be right! Their Estate Plan may be adequate for their individual needs. But in some cases, they may be horribly wrong! In fact, in some cases, they may be betting the farm, literally!

The good news for those of us that live in Ohio is that Ohio no longer has an Estate Tax which began in 2013. The Federal limits have been changing drastically over the years. If you were to pass away, your heirs will not pay estate tax unless you passed away owning more than $11.58 million per individual. However, it is always possible that the Federal Government will change its mind once again regarding this number. It is even possible this number will drop as low as $1 million!

Some people aren’t worried because they don’t have more than a million in assets and in some cases that is true. But remember, the estate tax is imposed on assets and the term ”assets” doesn’t just mean money, stocks, bonds, CDs and checking accounts. It includes almost anything of value (i.e. cars, coin collection, antiques, etc.).

The bottom line is that even if you think you are in a position where you don’t have to worry about your Estate Plan, wouldn’t it be better to know for sure that you are just such a place? Contact us and we will do an initial consultation to let you know if you need additional protection or not. We will explain to you in simple understandable terms what risk your assets are exposed to in just about any possible situation.

Do a favor not only for you but your loved ones. Give yourself and your loved ones a peace of mind to know that everything will be taken care of and protected.